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Lea Michele
' Lea Michele Sarfati '(professionally known as Lea Michele) is an American actress and singer. She portrays Rachel Berry on FOX's hit TV show, Glee. Profile Born in the Bronx, New York,' Michele' had no early ambition to be a singer. Her lucky break came when she tagged along with a friend to an open audition for a Broadway musical and as they say, fate stepped in. Michele was just eight when she landed her first Broadway role as Young Cosette in the New York production of Les Misérables. Three years later, Michele had a part in the original Broadway cast of Ragtime, and parts in'' Fiddler on the Roof'' as Shprintze and The Diary of Anne Frank ''as Anne Frank swiftly followed. However, it was her role as fourteen-year-old Wendla Bergman in the new musical ''Spring Awakening that changed her life. Nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical, Michele won rave reviews from both critics and audiences alike. While on the west coast, she went along to audition for some television pilots. The second one she read for was Glee, and she was instantly cast as high school vocal diva Rachel Berry. Making the transition from theatre to television, Michele has continued to wow fans with her powerhouse lead vocals. In just one year, this young actress has been nominated for a Golden Globe and a Teen Choice Award. She went on to win a Satellite Award in the Best Actress category and also shared a Screen Actors Guild award for an Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series. Child Star: Michele has virtually grown up onstage, making her Broadway debut at age 8 as Young Cosette in Les Miserables. Landing the role from an open call, the young actress has hardly stopped working since, going from Les Miz to the Toronto and Broadway companies of Ragtime, followed by a brief stint in high school (”It was my fun, normal time!” she quips) and then the Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof. “I’ve kinda had to grow up fast,” Michele says frankly, “but it’s made me who I am. I have some awesome friends from high school, and I’ve also been able to work with people like Marin Mazzie, Audra McDonald and Brian Stokes Mitchell—I mean, come on! I wouldn’t change any of it. This is exactly where I want to be.” Sounds of Spring: Michele’s journey with Spring Awakening began at 14 when she originated the role of Wendla in the first workshop. Since then, she’s remained one of the only constants in the show’s development. The other constant: Duncan Sheik’s acclaimed contemporary rock score, which Michele declares she’s “obsessed” with. “I was raised on the classic Broadway shows, but there’s another side of me that’s listening to Kelly Clarkson and rockin’ out to pop music,” she says. “That’s the amazing thing about this show—the way that I grew up listening to Alanis Morissette’s'' Ironic'' or the way that girls blast Since U Been Gone is the same way you can blast Bitch of Living or Don’t Do Sadness. There’s a song in Spring Awakening ''for every single kid out there going through all of the issues of growing up. That’s why I’m most proud to be part of this show.” Baring It All: Michele has some of the most intense moments in Spring Awakening'', including a controversial sex scene at the end of Act 1. Michele's character Wendla ends up topless onstage as she and costar Jonathan Groff's character Melchior explore their sexuality for the first time. “People like to focus on that scene,” she says. “I always get questions like ‘How does it make you feel? How do your parents feel?’ You know what? It’s a sex scene. It’s risky, but I am so comfortable working with co-star Jonathan Groff. He makes it easy for me.” She’s quick to point out that every cast member gets a moment to bare their souls onstage before the end of the show: “I don’t consider sex scene any more challenging or intense or risky than anything anyone else does on the stage,” she explains. “Everyone is putting themselves out there.” Eponine or Wendla? Earlier this season, Michele faced a dilemma most young actresses would dream of—whether to play Eponine in the revival of Les Miserables (she was cast during rehearsals for Spring Awakening’s off-Broadway run) or follow Sheik and company uptown. “I can’t express to you how much I love Les Miz,” she says. “I grew up with it. It will always be important to me. But after working on Wendla for six years, I felt I owed it to her and myself and the creative team to take this next step.” She remains hopeful of getting another chance to sing “On My Own” one day. “Maybe they’ll revive it a third time. Why not?” she says with a smile. Role Model: Asked about her dream roles, the sprightly young actress speaks first of her favorite leading lady. “I’m such a fan of Idina Menzel!” Michele exclaims. “I think she’s made a wonderful career in this business. I love her so much, and any role she’s played, I’d love to be able to follow in her footsteps.” Indeed, the “L” word becomes a refrain when Michele talks about her future onstage. “I love the theater!” she says with joy. “I’d love to be able to play all different roles, whether it’s Maureen in Rent or Maria in'' West Side Story''. I would just love to be involved in this business forever.’ She is also going to participate in the movies New Year's Eve ''(2011) and ''Dorothy of Oz ''(2012), the movie(New Year's Eve) was originally intented to be a sequel to the 2010 film, ''Valentine's Day, but on December 8, 2010 it was revealed it wouldn't be a sequal, and that Ashton Kutcher and Jessica Beil would be playing different roles, Lea will be playing the role of Elise, a back up singer for Bon Jovi. With Dorothy of Oz, it is an upcoming computer-animated film based on the book by Roger Stanton Baum by the same name, Lea will be playing the title role of Dorothy Gale. We can't wait to see both of them! Quotes *"Drink it, Dianna! Drink it! Take it home!" *(When Cory is asked about who Lea would turn gay for.) "This is like the NewlyWed game. You better get this right." *“But as far as doing more television, I don’t think that will be something I’ll do unless it were some sort of continuation of playing Rachel Berry, because I think she’s the greatest character ever.” *"When we're doing the serious stuff, I'm like, 'Oh, let's get back to the comedy,' and when we're doing comedy, we crave more of those dramatic story lines. But I think it's so equally balanced on the show that I feel satisfied. I did every sort of tragic Broadway musical possible -- I died, I had abortions, I was poor, I was an immigrant. … Thankfully, Glee came along because I just couldn't do the tragedies anymore." *"I remember looking up to Barbra Streisand in high school, and told myself 'Finally, Jewish singer who didnt get a nose job'" *''people telling her to get a nose job'' "I was one of the only girls in my high school that didn't get one. And if anybody needed it, I probably did. But my mom always told me, growing up, 'Barbra Streisand didn't get a nose job. You're not getting a nose job.' And I didn't. F*** those people. That's why I'm proud to be on a positive show and to be a voice for girls and say, 'You don't need to look like everybody else. Love who you are.' " *''the 2010 Golden Globes'' "Kevin! Let me see you, Kevin! Have I not taught you anything?" *''her audition for Glee'' That wasn't supposed to be funny. That was my serious moment. Now I'm going to do it again and I want you all to cry. *''an interview "Listen, my father has offered Jonathan millions to marry me, right Jonathan?"'' *''"Cory is such a goofball. I swear to God, that kid can make me laugh." *the sex scene'' "When Cory and I were doing our scene, the crew came up to us and they were like, 'Look. We just want you to know that Darren and Chris were really hot. They went for it,' So I was like, 'Listen, Monteith. We've got to do better than them. We've got to turn these people on! And we have to top those boys!' Poor Cory. But it was great. It really was." Film and television Links * Lea Michele's Twitter - @msleamichele Awards and nominations Trivia *Has taken Jonathan Groff as her date to awards. *Mark thinks she has cute hands. *Lea has known co-star Jenna Ushkowitz (Tina Cohen-Chang) since she was 8 years old. *Was roommates with co-star Dianna Agron the first 13 episodes of Glee and she was living with Jenna Ushkowitz in New York when they both got the call about being casted for Glee. *Jonathan Groff and Lea Michele starred as the original leads in the Tony award winning Broadway musical Spring Awakening together and played the roles of friends who turn into epic lovers. In real life the pair are extremely close and have been best friends since they met. It was even Jonathan Groff who actually introduced Lea to Glee creator Ryan Murphy who wrote the part of Rachel with her in mind. Fans of Spring Awakening shipped for Jonathan to guest in Glee as a love interest for Lea's character Rachel and succeeded when he was cast as Jesse St. James who would become her character's first serious boyfriend. *Is best friends with Jonathan Groff, Jenna Ushkowitz, Dianna Agron, Chris Colfer, Mark Salling and Cory Monteith *Broadway fans also heavily campaigned for the role of Rachel's biological mother to be played by fellow Broadway singer and legend Idina Menzel straight from the show's first episode due to their uncanny similar appearance. Lea and Idina had met through Broadway before and Idina is one of Lea's idols. Lea has said that she has been told her entire life how much she looks like Idina who is also a fellow New Yorker. *She wants to do Sweeney Todd and Wicked with Chris Colfer. *Due to Lea Michele's use of hair extensions her character Rachel's hair will often change length dramatically. It will sometimes grow, get shorter and then be longer than ever all in the same episode which never generally spans more time than a week. *She has 2 cats named Claudia and Shiela. *Her name in Chinese is 利. *She only wakes up once she has had coffee, which she loves. *She can't live without sushi. *She has a bumpersticker with CHEERIOS on her car. *She can't live without caring bodyproducts. * Her audition song for Glee was On My Own from the musical Les Miserables, ''and Rachel sings the same song for her New Directions audition. * She was home-schooled for one year while she lived in Toronto, performing in the original cast of Ragtime. * She is 5’3". She is the shortest out of the glee girls (Jenna, Heather, Naya, Dianna, and Amber). * Her mom Edith, gave up her career of nursing to support hers. * She went to Tenafly High School in Tenafly, New Jersey. * She was raised in the Bronx. * She likes sushi. * She dated actor Theo Stockman before they broke up in the September of 2011. * She loves record players. * Her favorite song to record was ''Don't Rain on My Parade, and favourite duet was Faithfully. * Her favorite song by Barbra Streisand is "My Man". * Wants a quaint house, a husband, a stable job, a pet or two and a few kids before she dies. * Cory and her often joke about getting married. * Cory Monteith was the one who gave her a Twitter account and her twitter name @msleamichele. He actually put Rachel Berry as her password but Lea changed it. * Has 12 tattoos. A gold star for Rachel, 'I Believe', a song from Spring Awakening in teal ink on her right wrist, a butterfly on her back for her mom, another butterfly her foot for her cousins, a tattoo on her left hand side (her left rib - a cross and "My Angel Now") in memory of her deceased grandfather, two music notes from Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody' on her right shoulder, and a tattoo with the word "Imagine" that Kevin McHale and Jenna Ushkowitz also have. On July 15–16, 2011, Lea Michele announced that she got 2 new tattoos, 1 out of the 2 can only be identified, but the other one remains unknown. One of her latest ones is "Our city, our love." on her foot. Although her tattoos are never shown, in the song number Like a Virgin, patches of some her tattoos were showing. *Before her audition for Glee, she rented a car and ended up in a car crash minutes before her audition. She ditched the car on the side of the road and ran to her audition. She had chunks of glass stuck in her hair, but was not ''injured. *She got accepted to Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, but opted instead to continue working professionally on the stage. *She said if she wasn't an actress, she would be a lawyer. *Her favorite song from ''Spring Awakening is "Don't Do Sadness". (via twitter @msleamichele as of 6/18/2011 to robinleejensen). *Her favorite song to record from Season 2 was My Man. (via twitter @msleamichele as of 6/18/2011 to @Team_Klaine) *On her twitter, she said to Swagisthebiebs that her favorite thing to do when she's not working is: watch any show on Bravo, cook, go on a hike, talk to her family, and hang with her friends. *She said to Trey Amsler on twitter that she would LOVE to make her own album one day, and she's hoping to do that in the near future. *She has wide vocal range. Her range is F3-A5, and she can sing 2 octaves. In an interview, she revealed she is a belter and soprano. Although, most of the time she is mixed up to be a Mezzo-soprano. *Has belted an A5 during Halo/Walking on Sunshine. *She's a Spanish, and a Italian American Roman Catholic from her mom's side. *For the afterellen hot list of 2011, she was ranked number 10. For 2010, she was ranked number 16. Here's her ranking. *Her dream Broadway roles are: Eponine (Les Miz), Eva Perón (Evita), and Elphaba (Wicked). *She would love to perform with Barbra Streisand or Celine Dion one day. *Her favorite song to perform in the 2011 Glee Live! tour is Happy Days with Chris Colfer. *She taught Mark Salling how to speak gibberish. *Her parents are named Marc and Edith Sarfati. *She attended Rockland Country Day School in New York. *She stated that "Lucky" by Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat is her and Jonathan Groff's theme song. *She stated that while she and Jonathan were in Spring Awakening, their nicknames were "Mom and Dad". Then one day she went into a cab and told Jonathan "Bye Dad!" and the cab driver overheard and asked her "Is he really your dad?" *Was caught smoking once. Click Here to see a picture. She hasn't been seen smoking since. *She claims she's the biggest Chris Colfer fan in the world. *Was once pranked by Chris Colfer an in interview. *She's owns an iPhone, since she tweets through that. She is also a very active tweeter. *She meditates, which she expresses it's good for the soul. *Her favorite movie is "Almost Famous". *Her favorite color is purple. *She has one dog. A Yorkshire Terrier named Mia. *Her favorite celebrity is Angelina Jolie, although, she is not her idol. *3 of her favorite foods are Lime Tosititos, Cookies, and Chips. *She said (before the end of Season 1) that if she had to bet if Rachel would end up with Jesse, Finn, or Puck, it would have to be Jesse. Although, in the end of the Season 1, Finn ended up with Rachel. Source *She slapped Robert Ulrich (Glee's casting director) in the face for her audition for Glee. The original script was for her to slap Finn, but since Finn wasn't there she slapped Robert Ulrich. Source *For the Lady Gaga Bad Romance dance number, she got injured, hence a floor-length dress to a special occasion, since she stated her injury was the size of a Golf Ball. *Can not play an instrument. *Was the first cast member to reach 1 million followers on twitter. *Before she warms up, she drinks luke-warm water, mixed with lemon juice and honey. (As seen in the Glee Live! 3D Movie) *Her audition song for Spring Awakening is "I Don't Know How To Love Him" from Jesus Christ Superstar (which she first sang when she was only 14 years old). *Is a Finchel, St Berry, Faberry and Puckleberry shipper. She loves them all equally. *Her personalised workout is a free app on iTunes called Nike Training Club where she goes through her workout and does it with you. *Cory once played a prank on Lea. He told Lea that she accidently scratched his car with her car, but the scratch on Cory's car was actually a sticker. When he peeled it off, Lea was holding a sandwich and threw the sandwich at him. *She was drunk at the Golden Globe 2011. Source *She gives herself breaks and loves organic wine and dark chocolate. *During Spring Awakening she had a proposal from a random guy and she tells him she has a boyfriend and the guy replied: Isn't Jonathan Groff gay? Source *Lea has twice performed at the Tony's. Once in 2007 with Spring Awakening and once again in 2010. *Once made out with a girl, since she was drunk and was playing spin the bottle. *The only one in glee cast member who don't understand Damian Accent